Artificial
by Mei Zhu
Summary: Discontinued, I looked back and realized what a crappy writer I was. However, the story held way too many memories to simply be erased off the face of the earth. Thus, it's still up for reading pleasures.
1. Prologue

Artificial

If you would like, please do comment on these by emailing me at webmistress@tijira.net!

Author's Notes

This is for my Ototo-San =^^= I luff you... Anyways, lol I'm supposed to be Duo and you're SUPPOSED to be Wufei **Glomps** ^_^ 

Prologue

"Morning!" Duo Maxwell bounced down the steps of the luxurious Winner estate. "Did everyone have a nice night of sleep?" Grinning, he helped himself with a piece of toast that had been set out by the maid.

Heero Yuy glared coldly at Duo. "Nobody could sleep with you talking in your sleep like that," he snapped. "The people on Earth could probably hear you."

Duo grinned. "That's the beauty of living in this new built colony isn't it, Hee-Chan?" He stuffed more toast into his mouth, swallowed, and went on. "I mean, it's the farthest away from Earth isn't it? Colony L6..." he paused briefly to stuff his mouth again with more toast. "Is so empty, nobody could hear me anyways." He gulped down some orange juice and grabbed his coat from the chair. "I'm gonna be out on dates all day, see ya Hee-Chan!"

Quatre Winner, who had just walked into the room, had to practically pin Heero to the wall to stop him from jumping onto Duo and tearing him into little braided pieces.

"Anybody notice how he's been abnormally happy...?" A voice said from behind Quatre and Heero. Both turned to find a young Chinese man leaning against the frame of the door.

"He's always happy," Heero growled. "It pisses me off."

"Yes, but have you noticed how he's..." Wufei paused. "TOO happy...?"

Quatre had a worried expression on his face. "I've noticed..." he said quietly.

"Who cares if he's TOO happy or not?" Heero made a small noise with his nose. "Either way, I'm going to kill him the next time I calls me Hee-Chan..."

Wufei smirked. "I think it suits you just fine, Hee-Chan."

Heero gave Wufei a glare that would have made even the world's bravest person pee in his pants. He opened his mouth to make a rude remark but was cut off by Quatre.

"Stop fighting," Quatre's voice sounded strained.

"Duo's left already I suppose...?" All heads turned towards the speaker. Trowa Barton raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the others. "That's why you're all in here fighting over who gets to kill him, am I right?"

Heero glared coldly at Trowa but was forced into a seat by Quatre. "The point is," Quatre said with a sigh. "That Duo is acting way too happy."

"So?" Wufei asked. "He's probably just getting laid." He smirked. "For once."

"Ha ha..." Quatre's first attempt at sarcasm didn't do him very well. "Look," he said. "We need to find out why Duo's so happy."

"I'm not getting anywhere near that idiot." Heero crossed his arms in front of his chest. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Slowly, he turned to Wufei. "Hey, honor man."

Wufei's right eye twitched slightly. "What?"

"I bet you can't get to the bottom of why Duo is so happy." Heero smirked.

"Oh yeah?" Wufei wasn't happy about taking the job, but he couldn't just turn down a bet like that. "So what if I can?"

"I give you a month to find out what's up with Maxwell." Heero said, his anger vanishing slowly. "If you can't, then..." he paused slightly. "Then you have to ask Sally out." He smirked. "Still want to take up the challenge?"

Wufei was speechless. Ask Sally out...? Sally PO?! He coughed slightly. "And what if I can?" he repeated. "Then... you have to ask Relena out."

"So its agreed then?" Quatre asked, feeling a bit relieved it wasn't him.

"Sure," Wufei sneered. "I'll find out what's up with Maxwell... and when I do, it'll be fun seeing Heero go out with Relena." 


	2. Chapter One

Artificial

If you would like, please do comment on these by emailing me at webmistress@tijira.net!

Chapter One

Duo hummed to himself as he skipped out of the house. As soon as he was out, he lost the happy exterior. There was no use trying to act happy when you're not being watched by one of the other four ex-pilots... Little did he know that Wufei *was* watching him.

Colony L6 was a tiny colony used only for the purposes of some special mission the ex-gundam pilots were supposed to be on. However, Duo never really paid attention. That was Heero's job.

There were only about fifty people living on the colony. Duo hadn't bothered to make friends with any of them. That was Quatre's job...

A child ran past Duo, nearly knocking him over. Duo growled a Heero-like growl but didn't say anything. He looked around nervously before sitting down on a small bench in the corner of a park. Slowly, he took a letter out of his pocket. He sat there, gazing at the unopened envelope, afraid of what he would find. Slowly, he opened it.

_Dear Duo,_

Your last letter scared me quite a bit. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I could never love you in that way. In your letter, you sounded so serious... so unlike yourself that, well, I guess I was afraid of sending this to you. That was why I took such a long time to send it. I'm terribly sorry Duo. I love you, but only as a friend.

Hilde

Tears welled up in Duo's blue eyes as he stared at the letter. He was very much aware of the answer he was going to get when he sent that letter to Hilde telling her how much he loved her... _Why did I do it...?_ he thought, his hands shaking as he tried to control himself from crying.

It suddenly seemed as if the entire world was collapsing on top of him. He wanted to die... nobody really cared about him anyways. He annoyed Heero and Wufei to a point where they were ready to kill him at any second, Trowa was incapable of caring for anyone, and Quatre... well... Quatre liked everybody. It didn't mean anything.

Nothing mattered anymore. 


	3. Chapter Two

Artificial

To tell you the truth, I gave up writing this after a while, because I basically never got to see my Ototo anymore... but then people started reviewing -^^-; So here's chapter two!! 

Chapter Two

He slowly opened the letter, feeling stupid and guilty for looking at something that didn't belong to him. Of course, the feeling had never come before. He'd seen Quatre's porn magazines under the bed, he'd snooped in Heero's room and found a stuffed bear, and he'd even taken a look in Trowa's room, out of pure curiousity, and found some things that he really didn't need to know about. But never Duo. No, he'd never went through anything of Duo's. Now, sitting there, with the letter that had made Duo cry, he felt guilty.

He slowly read the letter, absorbing every word of it. The simple paragraph had made overly-happy Duo cry... Wufei had never known the feelings Duo kept inside him for Hilde. None of them knew. The door opened and Wufei quickly stuffed the letter under the nearest thing: his butt. Duo's cheerful head poked through the door. "Hey Wu-Wu! Wacha doin'?"

_Please... don't sit down now..._ Wufei though. If Duo stayed, there would be no telling what Wufei would be able to blurt out. "Uh..." it was the first time he had been stumped on a question. Of course, this was a first time for a lot of stuff. "Meditating!" It was the first words that came into his mind. His butt was starting to itch from the possition he had placed the letter. "Get out, Baka!"

"Nah..." Duo smiled broadly and sat down across from Wufei. "Teach me how to meditate too, Wu-Wu."

Wufei winced. He was in need to scratch his butt, or at least repossition that letter so it wouldn't make his butt itch. But there would be no way to get his hand anywhere near his butt with Duo there watching him like that. "Go away, Duo." His voice was almost pleading. Almost. He couldn't figure out how Duo could change emotions so fast.

A sad expression flashed across Duo's face. For a second, he looked like an injured dog, and then it was gone. Just like that, just a second... "Ok, Oofie." He said, getting up. Normally, by this time, Wufei would have smacked Duo hard across the face. But something stopped him. Maybe it was the guilt he was feeling, or maybe it was the fact that his butt was DAMN ITCHY! He watched Duo walk away and sighed, feeling relieved.

However, as Wufei went back to reading the letter, the look on Duo's face reappeared in his mind. Was it just his imagination...? 


	4. Chapter Three

Artificial  
  
I appologize to those Americans who actually take these insults seriously... o.O' (sensitive people are we now...?)  
  
To anyone reading this through Fanfiction.net: x.X I originally had this story done a few days ago but forgot all about fanfiction.net. So... if you're ok with waiting, then go ahead. If you don't want to wait so long, then you can read all fanfictions through http://tijira.kloud-nine.com which will be moved soon... O.o I'll start a mailing list if anybody wants that, just review this fan fiction XD **falls over** Er... yeah... x.X'' Enjoy... and sorry for the delay...  
  
Chapter Three  
  
The sharp blade of the knife glistened in the evening light. One little stab... There would be pain for just a few splitting seconds... and then... there would be total silence. Total freedom.  
  
Duo turned the knife over and over in his hands, staring at it. Nobody would really care anyways. Heero would probably be glad, Trowa wouldn't show any emotion anyways, Quatre didn't count, and Wufei... well... Wufei had already shown Duo exactly how much he was hated. Wufei wouldn't give a damn. He didn't know why he let Wufei's irritated comment get to him. It was normal for Wufei to tell him to get out like that. So why was he so unhappy...?  
  
He sighed, staring out the window, the knife still in his hands. Trowa might be the type who wouldn't be afraid to stab himself, but Duo was dead frightened. You know, the pee-in-your-pants fright. The kind of fright that huge macho guys felt when they had to do something that they didn't want to but did it anyways only because their friends were watching. Of course, Duo was never a macho guy...  
  
He touched the point of the knife to his skin, slowly tracing a line down his arm, the knife barely touching him.  
  
The door opened, the knife flew out of Duo's hand at top speed, and... well... imagine Wufei standing at the door with a knife stuck to the wall about one inch away. "God, Wufei... you scared me!"  
  
Wufei himself was scared into puddy. "What kind of nutcase tosses knives around like that?!" It was the first words that popped into his mind, and he regretted it.  
  
"Watch it, Chang." A voice called out from another room. "Don't let Trowa hear you say that!" Heero snickered as he poked his head out of the door to his room.  
  
Wufei coughed slightly, seriously hoping Trowa hadn't heard. He closed Duo's door behind him as he stepped in. For a few seconds, he attempted to pull the knife out of the wall. How damn strong was Duo anyways?! Finally, nearly falling backwards, the knife was out and he silently handed it to Duo, noting at the same time that the braided American boy was bleeding. "What were you doing, cutting yourself up?" Again, first words that popped into mind, and he again regretted it.  
  
Its a strange feeling, regret. Wufei had never felt it before. Ok... maybe he had... he regretted ever letter that fool of a woman - Meiran, her name was - get anywhere near the dangers of war. He regretted lots of things, but never this. Dissing Duo had always been a pleasure. Now, it just brought more regret and guilt. Guilt... another thing he hadn't felt before. (Ok... maybe he'd felt that too before...)  
  
"I..." Duo blinked. "I just wanted to see what Trowa sees in that stuff." Again, a stupid smirk was plastered on his face. "Wacha doin' here, Wu-Wu?"  
  
Wufei didn't say anything. Silently, he walked out of the room. As soon as Wufei was out of the room, the disgustingly happy mask was off of Duo's face. He felt like crying. His eyes laid on the knife that was sitting not too far away from him.  
  
"You're not thinking about picking that up again, are you?" Duo looked up at the sound of Wufei's voice. The Chinese boy was carrying a small white box with a red cross on it. "'Cause Trowa might think its cool to cut himself with knives, but it'd probably hurt," Wufei smirked. "And you Americans just can't stand pain." He set the small, white box down in front of Duo. "Hold still, will you? What is it with you Americans and moving all the time?"  
  
Duo watched in amazement as Wufei attempted to bandage his arm, but it didn't go so well. The Chinese boy ended up tangling HIMSELF in the bandages instead. Duo giggled, not pretending to be happy anymore.  
  
Wufei found himself glaring coldly at Duo, but not really meaning it. Somewhere inside, he felt a sudden warmth and... well... he wasn't too sure what the other feeling was, but it felt weird and abnormal.  
  
He had finally managed to bandage Duo's wound without killing himself in the process, his pride breaking a little at how soft he had acted. He didn't even know he was capable of showing such feelings; though there really wasn't much feeling floating around in the room as of the moment. At least, not from him, not with that cold glare he kept giving Duo... He couldn't figure out why he was giving the poor, smiling guy a glare.  
  
Finally, unable to find anything to say, and feeling terribly uncomfortable just standing there, glaring at poor Duo, Wufei let out a sigh of frustration and stalked out of the room.  
  
Duo, it was safe to say, was perfectly fine with the sigh of frustration. It finally felt like somebody cared, if only for a second...  
  
---------  
  
I'm thinking of a little 2x5 love scene in the next chapter... unsure exactly how to approach that, reviews would be nice. 


	5. Chapter Four

bArtificial/b  
  
Chapter Four! ^^ yay... XD Go me! Lol even though it's WAY delayed... no 5x2 moment though, I couldn't think of how to begin it...  
  
bChapter Four/b  
  
Heero smirked at Wufei over his cup of coffee, nearly making the Chinese man choke on the piece of bread he had put into his mouth. As Heero got up from the table, Wufei could see the soldier mouth out the words "six more days" as he walked past. Wufei found himself gulping nervously as Duo walked into the room, a bright smile painting his American face.p  
  
"S'up, Hee-Chan? Q-Man? Wu-Wu? Trowa? Mornin'!"p  
  
Heero grumbled softly to himself. "How come you don't give Trowa a stupid nickname?"p  
  
"Because, obviously," Trowa said in an uncharacteristically sarcastic sounding tone. "You're a very special person, Heero." He moved out of the way as an apple whizzed past his head. The apple kept going and hit a large vase on a table, causing shattered pieces to fly across the room in all directions.p  
  
"Heero! What the hell are you trying to do? Murder everyone?" Wufei had developed a sudden snappy mood as soon as Duo had walked into the kitchen.p  
  
Heero just smirked. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? iWu-Wu/i..."p  
  
Quatre had to hold Wufei back before this fight developed into a food fight that might just leave some dents in his house. "Will you guys please stop irking each other?"p  
  
"Irking! I like that word." Duo grinned as he grabbed a donut.p  
  
Quatre rolled his eyes. "Guys, don't forget, we have to meet that psychiatrist today."p  
  
Heero's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Psychiatrist? I'm not a nutcase like some other people here... why're we being forced to all go?"p  
  
"Not a nutcase my ass..." Wufei muttered darkly.p  
  
"Because," Quatre said with a small sigh. "Lady Une wanted to make sure we were alright for the job. Appearantly, this woman is a friend of hers. Just go, ok Heero?"p  
  
center-----------------------/centerp  
  
Wufei nervously tapped his feet against the chair leg, waiting for Quatre to finish inside. He glanced around him to see what the others were doing. Heero was brooding darkly in a chair in the corner of the room, Duo was humming happily to his CD player, and Trowa was sitting there, staring into space, a strange, blank expression on his face.p  
  
The door opened, and Quatre walked out, smiling. "Your turn, Wufei," he said in a cheerful voice.p  
  
Wufei quirked an eyebrow at Quatre as he entered the room. The smell of lavenders was so strong that he had the sudden urge to run to a window and stick his face outside.p  
  
"Close the door behind you," a female voice said from a large, leather chair. The chair turned, and a lovely woman smiled up at Wufei. "Lets see... Chang, right? Chang, Wufei." He nodded, cautiously closing the door behind him. "No need to be afraid, Mr. Chang. Sit down," she pushed a small cup across the table as Wufei sat in the wooden chair. "Tea?"p  
  
The tea tasted strangely sugary. Wufei put the cup down, slightly miffed by the silence in the room. Was she going to talk? Or was she waiting for him to say something?p  
  
"I'm Iria Winner, it's a pleasure to meet you, Wufei."p  
  
"Winner?" Wufei raised an eyebrow, glancing at the woman. His head had begun to feel a little fuzzy.p  
  
She laughed. "Yes, Winner. I'm one of Quatre's sisters." There was a small pause. Wufei began to feel a little drowsy and had to fight to keep his eyes open.p  
  
iIs this some kind of trick?/i He glanced at the smiling woman in front of him. iDid she drug me?/ip  
  
"Has anything happened in the past month that you've been here?" Her voice sounded somewhat far away. "Any particularly strange feelings?"p  
  
It was then that Wufei realized what was in the tea. Before he knew what he was doing, he was telling her everything. He told her of the bet, of seeing Duo cry, of his guilt when he read Duo's letter... of... witnessing Duo almost kill himself. When he was done, he felt a squeezing feeling in his heart. iWhy did I drink it?!/i he thought, wincing under Iria's gaze. iAll those years with Heero, did I not learn anything about taking things from strangers? And now... now, she's forced everything out of me. She knows everything./ip  
  
Iria nodded softly, and then stood up. "Well, Wufei," She smiled at him gently. "It seems that you're experiencing a completely normal feeling." Her gaze seemed to pierce right through him as she spoke. "Don't worry about the tea, hun. Lady Une wanted to make sure you guys didn't lie." She smiled softly at him. "And, don't worry about the guilt. There's a little something called 'love' that every person experiences."p  
  
iLove?/i Wufei's head was starting to clear up, but somehow, it didn't feel like it had cleared at all. iWhat did she mean by that?/ip  
  
Iria walked to the door and opened it. "You can go now, Wufei... the drugs should have worn off by now." He walked past her, feeling a feeling of shame overwhelm him. "And, Wufei? That guilt you're feeling will never go away until you learn to admit to yourself that you're in love with Duo."p 


	6. Chapter Five

**Artificial**  
Hmm... thanks to all that reviewed chapter Four... ;; somebody asked for me to write longer chapters... XD but it'll take twice as long to write... I've go the attention span of a goldfish. Anyways... please don't hurt me after reading this chapter... -- you'll see what I mean...

* * *

I went through a period of... depression... x.X so this chapter took longer than it was supposed to take... sorry.  
  
**Chapter Five**  
The ride home from Iria's apartment building was oddly uncomfortable. Trowa was spacing out, Quatre had a strange, serene smile on his face, and Heero... well... Heero was freaking out.  
  
"Hey Hee-Chan!" Duo grinned as he switched seats and sat down next to Heero.  
  
The mere sound of Duo's voice was enough to make Heero jump about a mile, not to mention scream in a uncharacteristically shrill and high-pitched sound.  
  
Everyone in the car jumped.  
  
"Heero...?" Quatre blinked slightly. "Are you... alright...?"  
  
Heero's breathing came in harsh, uneven gasps. "I'm... I'm fine." He attempted a Death Glare at Duo, but it didn't work too well.  
  
The rest of the ride was pure silence. As Trowa slowly backed into the driveway, something caught Wufei's eyes. A woman was standing by the door of the small house. Even with her back turned, Wufei could tell who it was.  
  
"Hilde...?" Wufei was surprised by a soft gasp coming from behind him. Turning, he saw Duo's eyes widen with pure horror. The others were too spaced out to notice. As Wufei watched Duo run out of the car towards Hilde, he felt as if a hand had reached roughly down his throat and was now trying to pull his heart out. Choking slightly, he watched Duo embrace Hilde.  
  
_This feeling..._ Wufei winced slightly as he jumped out of the car. _Was Iria right...? Am I... In love?_ The thought was quickly pushed away, however. _That stupid Onna has gotten to me, how could I possibly be in love with that idiot? I'm not even gay_.  
  
Duo was grinning by the time Wufei had reached the front steps. "I'm gonna go out for a walk, k, Wu-Wu?"  
  
"Like I really care?" Wufei's snapping remark came all too quickly and harshly. The American recoiled slightly, and then, after a moment of silence, he ran down the stairs towards Hilde.

* * *

Wufei cried out in frustration as he swung at the punching bag and missed. _What's wrong with me?_ with a small grunt of frustration, he sat down onto the floor and crossed his arms, deep in thought. _I'm starting to act like a woman, getting all emotional like this..._ The thought struck him as extremely horrific, and he pushed it away, standing up again. He swung towards the punching bag and missed yet again, this time due to the surprised scream made by Quatre that could be heard from upstairs. Perplexed, Wufei rushed down the stairs.  
  
"What's-" Wufei's words were cut off as he ran outside. The sky was an inky black color and a shadow had cast over the entire colony, except for the small ray of sunlight fighting its way through the darkness. Quatre was shaking a few feet from the door, kneeled on the floor and covered in... was it... wires...?  
  
"Quatre?!" Trowa ran towards Quatre but suddenly stopped as a woman stepped into the single ray of sunshine.  
  
"You!" From behind Wufei, Heero cried out in a sharp voice full of loathing, something that had never come out of Heero's mouth before. Slowly, he came up next to Wufei and softly whispered into the Chinese man's ear. "Hilde..."  
  
Wufei glanced at Heero, full of confusion. Hilde? What about Hilde?  
  
"Go... go find her..." Heero winced slightly. "Duo... I should never have let him go with her..."  
  
Wufei heard the click of a gun being loaded and automatically glanced down at Heero's right hand. He was surprised to see blood covering the gun that the brown-haired man was carrying. Heero's blood... "Heero, wh-" he was cut off by a death glare.  
  
"Go, Wufei. Leave this to me."  
  
Wufei watched Heero point the gun at the woman - who he could now make out as Iria. Before he had time to think things over, he had started running towards the place where Duo had gone off to.  
  
There was a gunshot. The screaming of Quatre. A woman's voice. The smell of lavenders.  
  
Wufei kept running, trying to keep everything out of his mind other than the prospect of helping Duo.  
  
Something tripped Wufei, and as he fell onto the ground, he could see one of the wire-like things that had tied Quatre down to the ground. It seemed to be moving on its own, trying to wrap itself around the Chinese man's leg. Shaking it off, Wufei got up and started running again. He could hear more gunshots in the distance...  
  
Reaching the park, he glanced around, trying to find the place Duo had gone off into. _I know he's here..._  
  
And then, Wufei spotted something. Sitting on a bench only a few feet away, Duo was talking to Hilde, oblivious to the horror that was going around him, a wire-like thing wrapped tightly around his leg.  
  
Even before Wufei could do anything, he saw the gun that Hilde had pulled out.  
  
"DUO! NOO!"

* * *

I didn't like this chapter... but here it is... x.X; I've already started on Chapter 6... hopefully I'll like it more. Characters are swaying out of character... .;; 


	7. Chapter Six

haha... coughs its been a while, ne? A name-change was in order. Honestly, I forgot about this story... reading back now, it seems so "un-me"... my faithful readers must have already forgotten about me. 

Thank you to Kyuu for supporting me and pushing me to write another chapter. And also for being such a great friend.

I've begun a new story, actually, featuring hopefully Heero/Quatre. So... if you wish to check that out... its archived on my own fanfiction website.

anyways, on to Artificial #6!

* * *

"Oy! Baka! Hurry up in there. We have a very important mission." 

_.... Mission...? What mission? Who... are you...?_

The pounding on the door grew louder. "C'mon! DUO!"

_Duo...? How do you know my name...?_ He shifted, reaching over to smother himself with his pillow. _Leave me- _instead of touching something soft and warm, his hands brushed against something cold._What..._ he lifted his head and looked up. A gun was pointed directly at his forehead. A woman was holding it... _Hilde...?_

* * *

"DUO!" He heard a loud_BANG_ but wasn't sure from which direction it came from. He ran as fast as he could towards the braided American. 

_BANG_. There it was again. This time, Wufei was sure that it did not come from Hilde. For a brief second, an image of Heero crossed his mind. _He'll be alright..._ he convinced himself. "DUO!"

Duo's head turned, and for a brief moment, his eyes locked with Wufei's. And then, Hilde fired.

* * *

_Damnit..._ Heero felt his vision blur slightly as he took aim again. Angrily, he rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them of the fog. _DAMNIT! Where the hell is she?!_

Suddenly, he heard a gunshot from behind, and then felt a stabbing pain in his back. Before he fell, he caught a glimps of something attached to Iria's legs. _Wires...?__

* * *

_

Trowa winced in pain as Quatre threw him across the field. Since when did little Quatre gain so much strength...? He watched as Quatre grabbed a gun from his pants pocket and before he could react, the blonde had fired. Forgetting all pain in his chest, Trowa ran up to Quatre.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He reached out a hand to stop Quatre, but it was too late. Heero had fallen. "What do you think-" he was stopped in mid-sentence as Quatre turned, and pointed the gun straight at his head, his hands shaking violently.

"Shoot him." Iria's cold voice called out in the distance.

Quatre hesitated just long enough for Trowa to pry the gun out of his hands. "What..." then he saw _them_, and he understood. Roughly, he pushed Quatre to the ground and ran towards Iria.

"I'm sorry, little one..."

* * *

**A/N:** -.- such horribleness... ick... I can't write. 


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